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Recommendation 1930 (2010) Final version
Prohibiting the marketing and use of the “Mosquito” youth dispersal device
1. The Parliamentary Assembly’s attention
was drawn to the “Mosquito” youth dispersal device by the European
Youth Forum and it was asked to take a stand on its use. Its impact
on the health of children and young people, and discrimination against
them were mentioned as problems.
2. “Mosquito” is the commercial name for the acoustic youth dispersal
device currently available on the market and used in several Council
of Europe member states. These include the United Kingdom, where
some 3 500 devices are in use, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland,
the Netherlands and Switzerland.
3. The “Mosquito” device emits a strong, pulsating acoustic signal
with a sound pressure of 75-95 decibels and a frequency range of
16-18.5 kilohertz. This kind of noise is audible to almost all young
people under the age of 20 years, but is barely discernible to anyone
over the age of 25. The noise produced by the “Mosquito” device
is extremely irritating and often even painful to a majority of
minors and quickly forces them to leave the area within earshot.
4. The device is used to deter undesirable adolescents from loitering
in places where they are not welcome, and where it is considered
that they harm the image or the ambiance of the place: outside shopping
centres or in alleyways or other places where young people like
to gather and spend time. It is installed and used by public authorities,
shopkeepers and sometimes even by schools or individual residents.
In the majority of cases, no prior warnings or information concerning
the installation of these acoustic devices are given.
5. Older people are not aware that they are being exposed to
this kind of strong acoustic emission because it is outside their
hearing range. On the other hand, many children, in particular babies,
have dramatic reactions to the sound. They often start to cry, or
shout out and cover their ears, to the surprise of their parents,
who, unaware of the noise, do not know what is happening.
6. Teenagers exposed to this kind of sound are forced to leave
the zone. They feel that the “Mosquito” device is used as a weapon
against them regardless of their behaviour. They feel victimised
and offended, and regard this treatment as clear discrimination
against young people. They feel that they are being treated as potential
troublemakers and delinquents and, consequently, their feeling of
alienation deepens.
7. The use of the “Mosquito” device also raises public health
questions. While the sound level produced by the device does not
normally exceed the sound level permitted by labour law regulations
for short-term exposure, these regulations are not applicable to
children, minors or pregnant women, who clearly should be much better
protected than adult workers.
8. Research so far indicates that there is no danger of hearing
loss for adults or young people as a result of exposure to the “Mosquito”
sound. However, although there is no indication that other health
risks might be associated with this device, further medical tests
are required. It is, for instance, not known what impact high-frequency
noise has on unborn children. The “precautionary principle” must
therefore apply.
9. The Assembly considers that the use of “Mosquito”-type devices
constitutes a disproportionate interference with Article 8 of the
European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), which protects
the right to respect for one’s private life, including the right
to respect for physical integrity. Even though such interference
does not result directly from public authorities’ action, states
parties are bound to guarantee this right effectively and adopt,
when required, adequate protective measures. The use of these devices
may, depending on circumstances, also interfere with Article 11
of the Convention which guarantees the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly.
10. For the Assembly, acoustic dispersal devices aimed at adolescents,
such as the “Mosquito”, are also inconsistent with the general prohibition
of discrimination in the enjoyment of any right set forth by law,
as provided for by Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the Convention
(ETS No. 177), and they are in breach of Article 14 of the Convention,
which states that the enjoyment of rights and freedoms protected
by the Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any
ground such as “birth or other status”. Further to a British national campaign
against the discriminatory character of the “Mosquito”, a new version
of the device went on sale in November 2008 which allows the user
to lower the frequency, therefore enabling its sound to be audible
to people of any age. However, as long as the possibility exists
to set the frequency at a higher level, and given the scope the
device is intended for, it will remain potentially discriminatory.
11. The Assembly emphasises, in addition, that these devices,
while inflicting acoustic pain on young people and treating them
as if they were unwanted birds or pests, are harmful, highly offensive
and may thus result in a degrading treatment prohibited by Article
3 of the Convention. Under this provision, children and other vulnerable
persons have the right to be protected from serious attacks against
their physical and psychical integrity.
12. Moreover, the Assembly notes that the “Mosquito” devices contravene
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular
regarding health and safety. This convention binds states parties
to “ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination
or punishment” (Article 2.2), recognises the right of the child
to freedom of peaceful assembly (Article 15) and requires states
parties to “take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social
and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical
or mental violence, injury or abuse” (Article 19.1).
13. Finally, the “Mosquito” device is not a reasonable way of
dealing with the antisocial behaviour of some young people but merely
displaces the problem (elsewhere within a neighbourhood). It is
not tackling the root cause of the problem and certainly does not
encourage youngsters to act responsibly – probably the reverse.
14. The Assembly welcomes the draft law before the Belgian Senate,
which seeks to prohibit the manufacture, marketing and sale of such
devices, and also the initiatives of some local authorities which
have banned the use of “Mosquito”-type devices. However, the Assembly
regrets that no member state of the Council of Europe has so far
banned them. Furthermore, in April 2008, the European Commission
also decided not to ban them.
15. Therefore, the Assembly recommends that national parliaments,
governments and local authorities of the Council of Europe member
states, in the exercise of their respective roles and competencies,
introduce appropriate measures to:
15.1. ban the installation and use in all public places of sound
devices which discriminate against young people, such as the “Mosquito”;
15.2. prohibit the marketing and sale of “Mosquito”-type dispersal
devices or, at least, require clear warnings if an owner or administrator
of a non-public place should decide to use this kind of acoustic device
in a place under their responsibility;
15.3. promote, in consultation with youth forums at the local
level, the development of indoor and outdoor facilities to increase
opportunities for physical, intellectual and leisure recreation,
including green areas, gymnasia, swimming pools, playing fields,
libraries and multimedia libraries.
16. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
16.1. urge national authorities to
enact legislation prohibiting all “Mosquito”-type dispersal devices,
as a necessary condition to ensure the full protection of the human
rights of young people;
16.2. monitor closely the developments in this area and promote
initiatives aimed at ensuring that, in the various aspects of the
organisation of their social life, minors are not treated with contempt
and animosity, or considered as nuisances, potential troublemakers
or hostile elements of society.